The United States President, Joe Biden; the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson; as well as the Canadian Prime Minister, Justice Trudeau, among others, have condemned the ruling by the US Supreme Court to overturn verdict on the Roe Vs Wade case on abortion.
The court on Friday overturned the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade case ruling that recognised women’s constitutional right to have an abortion.
But condemning the decision, the US President said it would “dramatically change life for millions of women in America and exacerbate growing tensions in a deeply polarised country,” The Guardian UK reports.
The court, in a ruling powered by its conservative majority, upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The Justices, in the ruling written by Justice Samuel Alito, held that the Roe decision that allowed abortions performed before a foetus would be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was wrongly decided because the US Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.
As a result of Friday’s judgment, “from the very moment of fertilisation, a woman has no rights to speak of abortion. A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs,” the liberal Justices added.
The verdict also empowered states to ban abortion.
Asked in a Fox News interview whether he deserved some credit for the ruling, Trump said, “God made the decision.”
But describing the judgment as a ‘tragic error’, Biden wrote, “With Roe gone, let’s be very clear: the health and life of women in this nation are now at risk. This is an extreme and dangerous path the court is now taking us on.”
Also reacting, the British Prime Minister, Johnson, said, “I think it’s a big step backwards. I’ve always believed in a woman’s right to choose and I stick to that view and that’s why the UK has the laws that it does.”
Similarly, the Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau also condemned the attack, stating that it was “horrific”.
“The news coming out of the United States is horrific. My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion,” Trudeau said on Twitter.
“No government, politician, or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body,” he said.